Hot Sour Salty Sweet

Salutatorian Ana Mei Shen has her 8th grade graduation day planned out.  First, she’s going to give a great speech and then she is going to ask the boy she has been crushing on all year long, JamieTabata, to the graduation dance.  But when a water main breaks right before she gives her speech it floods the gymnasium and results in the dance being canceled.  Then when she goes to talk to Jamie her talk is interrupted by tall, blonde Amanda “Mandy” Conrad, who seems to have the stamp of approval of Jamie’s father.  To make matters worse, Ana’s best friend Chelsea decides the only way to thwart Amanda’s onslaught of flirting with Jamie is to have a big graduation dinner at Ana’s house (Amanda not included).

Things aren’t going as Ana has planned.  Not. At. All.

“Hot Sour Salty Sweet” is a funny book written by Sherri L. Smith.  Smith’s main character Ana is a “Blasian” 14 year old with a family her Social Sciences teacher calls a “marvelously, biracial, multicultural family”.  Only Ana doesn’t feel that way.  Her paternal and maternal grandmothers don’t get along at all and she’s often feels like the family diplomat between them.  She also feels insecure about her looks, people of all ethnicities give her and her little brother the “ah” moment when she’s seen our with her parents.

Ana’s Chinese father looks at things this way: “Your mother and I knew it might be hard for you and Sammy to grow up biracial.  But it’s not about taking sides.  You are the best of both of us, the best we have to offer as human beings.  Our cultural differences only enrich us and make us stronger.”

Ana finds it hard to feel that way when your grandmother’s are staging WWIII in the kitchen and the world tells you that true beauty is pale and blonde.  The book draws you in with the story and the kitchen scenes are a cross between the movies “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” and “Soulfood”.  It really makes me want to go home and make some stir-fried collar greens and macaroni and cheese.

Author Smith will be going on a virtual book tour on her website.  Pick up the book and then talk to her on her MySpace page.